Plate Tectonics
Who is given credit for the theory of plate tectonics?
Alfred Wegener
What machine is used to record the waves that earthquakes produce?
seismometer
What are three types of volcanoes?
composite, cinder cone, and shield
ashflow caldera
What ocean is getting bigger and bigger each year?
The Atlantic (sea floor spreading)
Which layer is solid?
inner core
What is causing the earth's plates to move?
convection currents of the liquid magma that is part of the Earth's mantle
What do we call the location where an earthquake originates from?
the focus
What type of volcano has small amounts of gas and very fluid lava?
A shield volcano
The Hawaiian Islands formed over these?
hot spots
Magma outside the earth is called _______?
lava
What is the term used to describe the when tectonic plates slip past each other?
transform boundary
What types of waves are produces by earthquakes?
seismic waves
What do we call the particles that come out of a volcano when it errupts into a huge cloud of smoke, ash and gas?
pyroclastic flows
Where do the most destructive earthquakes occur?
subduction zones
What materials is the core mostly made of?
iron & nickel
What is definition of "subduction"?
the sinking of one plate beneath another plate
What is the name of the scale used to measure the intensity of earthquakes?
Richter Scale
What type of volcano is very explosive and shaped like a mountain?
composite
Name at least 3 things that occur as the result of plate tectonic movement?
mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, continental drift
Crust and uppermost mantle forms this brittle outer layer of Earth
lithosphere
Give evidence of plate tectonics
fossils, continents fit like puzzle pieces, connecting mountain ranges
What is the name of the fault in the United States that most earthquakes occur along?
San Andreas Fault in California
Give an example of a shield volcano.
Mauna Loa, Hawaii
What is the name of the huge supercontinent that existed millions of years ago?
Pangaea
What increases as you move from the earth's crust toward the center of the earth?
temperature, density and pressure